It’s no secret that Jacob deGrom is one of the best, if not the best pitcher in baseball.
The New York Mets ace has a killer instinct unlike any other and is a bulldog on the mound.
The Los Angeles Angels may soon find that they’ve got somebody similar.
Two-way star and ace Shohei Ohtani was caught on camera channeling his inner-deGrom, imitating his setup and his pitching routine while on the mound.
And Ohtani was having some fun impersonating deGrom too.
If you look closely at his face in the video, you can tell he really is enjoying himself quite a bit.
Shohei Ohtani does his best Jacob deGrom impression.
(via @ohtanimoments)pic.twitter.com/mJ4sMFe9NI
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) March 24, 2022
Channeling His Inner-deGrom
Ohtani may be the next best thing.
He’s already an ace in his own right, but if he keeps this up, he could end up like deGrom as well.
And why wouldn’t he be enjoying imitating the best pitcher in the game.
deGrom is the new standard for pitchers these days, and Ohtani is just trying to emulate the best around.
You can tell Ohtani wants to bring that energy to Los Angeles and help the Angels turn into a contending ballclub, as deGrom plans to do with the Mets.
Ohtani will also have one of deGrom’s former teammates on his side, pitcher Noah Syndergaard, which forms another strong one-two punch, assuming both Ohtani and Syndergaard can stay healthy.
It’s very likely that Thor gave Ohtani some pointers on how to imitate his ex-teammate, and that he wants to pitch like deGrom himself.
He and deGrom formed a solid one-two punch in the mid-2010s when the Mets were most recently in the World Series, so the apple doesn’t exactly fall far from the tree.
NEXT: Angels Make The Obvious Official With Shohei Ohtani